Conventionally shearing is carried out manually by using a hand piece which includes a cutter having cutting teeth moving over a stationary comb, the teeth oscillating or reciprocating back and forth over the teeth of the comb.
Work has been carried out for the mechanised shearing of sheep, these either being fully or partially mechanised but as far as is known, these all include a shearing mechanism or head which includes a similar form of reciprocating cutter.
The inherent disadvantages of these known cutters are well known, such as the mechanism required to convert the rotary motion into the reciprocating, motion, noise, and the need to frequently sharpen both the cutter and the comb.
Also due to the form of cutter and comb a considerable force is required in order for the fingers of the comb to penetrate the wool so that the cutter itself can cut the wool by acting with a scissor type action between the edges of the cutter blade and the fingers of the comb.
Attempts have been made to develop a non-reciprocating cutter by utilizing a sharpened blade which continuously moves in one direction and which may not need to co-operate with a stationary comb. However these have not been entirely successful due apparently to the fact that the sharpened and honed edge quickly becomes dulled and blunt, and also that if any rate of movement of the cutter through the wool is attempted, then the wool is not cut but is laid down beneath the cutter.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,744 there is disclosed an apparatus and method for severing fleece from a sheep pelt, and which uses an endless belt knife in order to sever the fleece from the pelt. This endless belt knife is honed to a sharp edge, and the knife belt is continuously sharpened by grinding wheels rotated on a lower run of the knife belt, this knife belt being sharpened both sides by the pair of grinding wheels.
It is an object of this invention to provide a continuous or uni-directional cutter suitable for the shearing and cutting of wool and which cutter does not have to be continuously sharpened.